


A Regular Occurrence

by MissIronAmerica (itsleanneyall)



Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Absent Characters, Description of Surgery, F/M, Gen, Romantic Friendship, Some Mention of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 10:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsleanneyall/pseuds/MissIronAmerica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint gets shot on a mission with Natasha. It happens often enough, but it's still worrying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Looks Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Just a quick note to say that any reviews/comments/other things that could help would be really appreciated. It's my first fic and completely unbeta'd so any spelling/grammar errors are my own. Hope you like it, if only just a little bit! I should be putting the next one or two chapters up tomorrow as long as my Internet doesn't give in :)

Clint yelped as he felt hot metal sink into his shoulder. He tumbled forward, gasping in pain. “Can anyone hear me?” he called into his comm. “Clint?! Where are you?” shouted Natasha. She hated losing her partner, especially in such large fights.

“I’m at the warehouse down by the docks. Are you alright?” Concern crept into his voice.

“I’m fine; it was pretty much silent by the hut. Give me 2 minutes, I’ll be right there.” She had to help him. He had saved her life many times, and it was time to repay the debt (if only a little). She ran for the warehouse while reloading at the same time. Clint only groaned in response. He could already feel the energy draining from his body. He hoped she would get there fast. She stopped about 20 metres from where he was hiding and shot the three remaining hostiles straight through the skull, and then sprinted towards him. “My God, what did they do to you?”

“Got shot,” he groaned. He tried to muffle a yell as he felt sudden pressure on his shoulder.

“Stay still, I’m gunna try and stop the bleeding. We’ll have to wait until we get back to the helicarrier before the bullet comes out, it’s embedded too deep.” Natasha hated seeing Clint in pain, and felt even worse when she was the one causing it. She knew from personal experience just how painful being shot was. He nodded, trying to keep still. “It’s that bad?”

“Base, do you come in? Agent down, repeat, agent down!” She sighed. “Well, let’s just say that whoever shot you picked the boniest non-fatal place in your torso. It’ll be fine, but good luck shooting for the next couple of weeks…”

Clint just sighed. He hated losing the use of his arm. “How long until they get here?”

“They said about 10 minutes. We’re pretty far out.” Romanov kept a poker face. Truth was that the bleeding was slowing, but nowhere near fast enough. Barton could tell from her voice that something was wrong. “Natasha, how bad is it? Tell me.”

“The bleeding’s not really stopping, Clint. If we’re not careful then you could lose too much."

He groaned. “Is it too high for a tourniquet?”

“Yeah, it’s in your shoulder blade and there’s no way I can set one up without cutting off all blood supply to your arm and making it worse… ” Her voice broke the smallest amount on the last word, but still enough that the shooter could hear.

“I’m not going to die, Nat. I just need to get this damn bullet out.”

“Well it’s been five minutes already and you haven’t passed out yet, so I’m gunna take this as a good sign. I’d try to get the bullet out myself but I’d probably end up fracturing your blade if it isn’t already. It needs professionals.”

“Think we can get back to Stark Tower? Bruce could look at it there.” Barton hated hospitals and wasn’t going to go to one unless he was about to die, which he wasn’t. Also, he trusted Dr. Banner more than the S.H.I.E.L.D. medics, even if his alter-ego was strong enough to crush a building. “I should think so, Bruce’s been staying there since the Chitauri attack, clearing up and playing in the lab. I’ll see if I can contact them. Keep the pressure on? I need to stand up.” She checked for hostiles, then took out her phone and pressed one. It helped having all of the Avengers on speed dial sometimes. Hawkeye pressed down on his shoulder, closing his eyes against the pain. He knew this wasn’t good.


	2. Makeshift Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I know this chapter was uploaded quickly, but it could be a couple of days if not a week before the next one is up, I've got some exams in two weeks and could really do with revising :') Hope you like it!

“Stark? Is Bruce at the Tower still? Good, I’m gunna have to make an unannounced visit… Clint’s been shot and the bullet’s lodged in his shoulder blade… You know he hates hospitals… So have you got a makeshift operating table? Good, it’ll be about 5 to 10 minutes. Tell Bruce. I owe you Tony, thanks.” With a sigh of relief, she knelt back down and took the bandage. “Tony says Bruce will be able to get it out.”

Clint nodded. He was getting weaker. “We should get going then.” As he said that, a S.H.I.E.L.D. jet landed just across from them. As Nat got them on, she told the pilot “Stark Towers. I don’t care what Fury said, he needs serious medical attention.” They took off, and she noticed just how pale Clint was becoming, and that his eyes were drooping. “Hey! Stay with me, eyes open.”

The archer grumbled, and opened his eyes just enough for her to see that they were open. “Hurts, ‘Tasha,” he grumbled. "I know, we’re almost there. Just keep them open now for me.” Black Widow was worried. She had never seen her partner this weak before, and wasn’t completely sure that they would make it in time. Clint nodded. Soon enough they got to Stark Tower and the doors flew open, with Tony and Bruce ready to help. “He’s only just remained conscious during the flight. I hope you’ve got blood, Tony.” Stark looked to her and nodded. “I called S.H.I.E.L.D. as soon as you hung up, then flew over to Metropolitan Hospital and got what I think should be enough. Being Iron Man has its perks, people don’t tend to argue when you fly in and ask for blood.”

They rushed him into one of the lab rooms that had been completely cleared, except for a metal table and a heart monitor. Clint’s torso armour was taken off then he was put on the table carefully before being given anaesthesia and a line for the blood to be pumped through. Clint’s shoulder was a mess. The bullet had buried deep and ended up in the bone, and in the process had nicked an artery, explaining why the bleeding had not stopped. It took over three hours for Bruce to put everything together again. Clint was taken to one of Stark’s endless amount of spare rooms to recover completely. S.H.I.E.L.D. (Director Fury in particular) had tried desperately to get Clint back on the Helicarrier but Bruce had said he wanted to monitor him but didn’t want to go back there in case he caused similar damage to the Chitauri invasion, which they accepted as a good reason for him to stay. Tony had told Natasha to go back to the Helicarrier herself but she insisted that Bruce could look her over and if Coulson or Fury wanted her badly enough then they would come and get her themselves. Never in their partnership had she left him while he was recovering and she wasn’t about to start doing so now. Also, she felt it was her fault that he had suffered this injury, so she had to help look after him as a way to apologise. Bruce took her aside about an hour after the operation.

“Natasha, can I speak to you for a second?”

“Of course, in fact I wanted to speak to you about-”

“Clint should be up in a few hours but don’t expect him to be overly interactive, he lost enough blood that literally thirty seconds more and he would have been a corpse.” Natasha made sure her face was kept clear of emotion but she felt it drain of colour and her mouth became dry. “What about recovery? I mean, how long until he’s shooting again?”

“It will be about 4 weeks I think. The artery needs time to heal completely and his bone will try and regrow some of what it lost from the bullet embedding itself. He’ll be in a sling for that amount of time and I’m counting on you to make sure he doesn’t get out of it.”

Romanoff nodded. Clint knew what she would do if he tried anything that was just going to make his injuries worse, so he probably wouldn’t do anything, but with him you were never 100% sure how much of a pain in the ass he was going to be during recovery.


	3. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't take as long as I thought it would, I found it quite easy to finish it, so it's up a heck of a lot earlier than I expected. Hope you like it! (Once again all grammar/spelling mistakes are mine)

Barton woke up slowly, hearing a beeping. He wasn’t sure where he was. His mouth was dry and he was really nauseated. Opening his eyes he saw Natasha sleeping in a chair next to him. After she and Bruce finished speaking, she went into his room. She decided that it was better for him to hear the news from her than anyone else, but it had taken so long and it was so quiet and warm that she had passed out before he had woken up. However, because of her training and hypersensitivity to noise, as soon as Clint moved in the slightest her eyes snapped open. “Barton?”

“Hey Nat.” He said in an almost whisper.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve kept closer instead of suggesting we split. I knew something wasn’t right; it was too quiet. Bruce said…” She stopped. She wasn’t sure if she could tell him about the damage just yet after all.

“Nat, it’s not your fault that I got hurt. There are things that you just can’t stop from happening, and this is one of them.” He didn’t really care what Bruce had said, and he could just about cope with the recovery time, he just needed the assassin to know that it wasn’t her fault.

“Okay.” She agreed with him on the outside, but inside she still felt guilty. “How are you feeling? Do you want something to eat?”

“Feel like I might throw up,” he mumbled, holding his stomach. ”Can I have a glass of water?”

“Sure, give me a second.” She stood up, gave his hand a quick squeeze, then went to the kitchen of that floor. "Here you go." Passing the cup, she surveyed him. The colour was back in his cheeks and he had given her a smirk as she walked back in. She knew he was going to be alright. He took the cup, and took small sips. "So what did Bruce say?"

"That it's going to be three weeks minimum before you can move it but another week after that before you can start shooting again. Looks like you're out of action for a while."

Clint winced. That was a long time to be out. "Alright." He knew that he was going to be breaking some rules (as usual) and would be back to shooting sooner than that.

"I suppose I should check in with the Director. He hasn't heard from me for two days. He knows what happened and doesn't expect you to be back any time soon so don't screw your shoulder up just so you can get back in the field." She said this, but knew he wouldn't listen to a word of her warning.

"Okay, okay, I get the point. Let me know if you are going on any missions?" He gave her a small smile.

"I will, but I don't think I will be doing anything interesting. I'm not going anywhere without my partner." She smiled back, then left to call a jet to the Helicarrier.

"Then you'll be out of a job for a while."

She turned back around. "I think I could do with a break. I haven't stopped working for 10 years."

"Yeah, it's time for you to have a break I think." he laughed. As she left, he wondered if Tony would let them borrow the Malibu place for a couple of weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it! I might write a one-shot about their holiday (with a little interference from the other Avengers), but we'll have to wait and see... ;)


End file.
